Millikan Teaching Personal Financial to Students

High school is the last step before teenagers become young adults, and with Millikan High School’s personal finance classes, aka adulting classes, students can learn a lot about managing their money.

Senior teacher Brie Wells has implemented a personal finance curriculum to her lesson plans in her AVID classes—program designed to help underachieving students with high academic potential prepare for entrance to colleges and universities. Two other AVID teachers at Millikan High School are sponsored by the foundation; this is their first year with the curriculum.

This program, based online, is sponsored by the Jackson Charitable Foundation to support their efforts to boost financial literacy among students. The foundation sponsors schools to embed the curriculum into their lesson plans. Wells applied for the sponsorship and uses portions of the finance lessons.

“The students have been asking for an adulting class to teach them about debt and budgeting,” Wells said. “So this sponsorship is going to make sure they are financially literate when they graduate.”

Millikan supplies laptops for every student, which Wells’ AVID students use to take quizzes, watch videos that supplement the lessons and track their own progress with the lesson plan.

“The foundation provides the course outline, aligned with standards and a variety of activities that go with the curriculum,” Wells said. “My hope is to create an entire class on personal finance for the students, I wish I knew these things when I was in high school.”

Millikan High School is one of over 200 schools across the United States that has been sponsored the foundation. The Jackson Charitable Foundation recognizes that many students aren’t financially literate out of high school and incorporate lessons about buying cars, debt and loans, and creating a savings plan to encourage students to make smarter choices. This becomes important as seniors begin to apply for college and navigate financial aid and student loans.

Wells wants to apply for the sponsorship again next year and hopefully be able to create a stand-alone elective class for next year’s seniors.

“The average student loan is around $39,000 with over half of post grads living paycheck to paycheck,”Wells said. “Everyone is to be literate, not matter background, this levels the playing field.”

kalaisha@beachcomber.news